tokin' at the crag

While waiting to get on a climb in BoCan recently, my partner and I watched as the only 2 other climbers there that day smoked pot between climbs. Obviously not a good idea but I figured it was really none of my business, they were nice guys and pot is legal in CO now anyway. I did get concerned when one threaded the rope through his harness and then indulged without finishing his knot. I watched closely but he did finish tying his knot before he started climbing.

I have never seen anyone smoking while actually climbing & just wondered what other people would have done in that situation.
Also interested to hear from folks that have done this regarding how it affected their climbing

Smoking and climbing aren't activities that I think go together. The last thing I want to do high is try to climb, and there is absolutely no way I could do so safely. I wouldn't let people belay me after smoking, but I have no problem if other people think they can do so safely.

I'd like to think that if they are smoking constantly out climbing, then they probably just smoke all the time. Therefore there tolerance for the drug is much higher. Personally I smoke a lot climbing or not, I find that being high makes me extra cautious when climbing because I except to mess up so I triple check everything then check again. As far as performance goes it helps me a lot on hard red points turns my mind off and helps me hone my focus on the climb at hand. If there are kids around or its very crowded I'll make it a point to not smoke. Since weed is legal in colorado now I'm sure this will be a more frequent occurrence.

Smoke pot, check your knot.

Long as they don't hit me when they fall off, I guess it's their call.

Obviously a concern with forgetting important things (like finishing your knot). I would think climbing stoned would be terrifying but I don't smoke pot & am curious how it would affect one's ability to climb. Would you climb better because you are relaxed and thinking less or would you freeze or would you just get sloppy and gumby-ish?

Not for me personally, but think of all the climbers in Yosemite who were probably getting baked up on the big walls. I mean, Jim Bridwell...come on...

Bridwell soloed on acid. Might be a bad idea....

try it on shrooms

Some of the strongest and safest climbers I know rip down all day be it trad craggin, desperate aid pitches or long alpine routes.
I'd say mind your own business and don't judge people.

Not judging anyone &, like I said, figured it was none of my business. Just curious how it might affect one's ability to climb....

The guys that were doing this were really nice guys and I was a little concerned for their safety but not being judgemental

I like getting high. That's why I climb.

I feel like this might be the newest incarnation of Elenor. It might be a bit too soon to tell.

It is so effective that Sharma got kicked out of the world cup for it.
Then there is the skiers, boarders, olympic swimmers…….and so on.

Valley Uprising should help educate people on the subject! ;)

i know a guy if you are tryin' to find out for yourself what its like..

but seriously, its just different strokes ya know. being stoned often causes one to be way more safety conscious and also more in tune with your body positioning and whatnot. for others though it wigs them out. i know smokers who smoke and climb and others that wouldn't think of it. and id climb with any of them

its them kids getting stoked off their smart phones that i'm worried about, usin' that gri-gri app

Tim Lutz wrote:Climbers are smoking the pot?! Alert the presses. Climbing mags dont mention this in their how to tutorials, so it must not be true.

It's entirely dependent on the person. If a person smokes regularly then they aren't affected the same as a person that doesn't smoke regularly.

I am a regular smoker and used to climb with a non-smoker. He had no issues with me belaying him because he knew that I did it regularly and it didn't affect me. But if my partner decided that he wanted to smoke, there is no way I would have let him belay me because he was not a regular smoker.

And for me I would say that smoking most definitely helps me stay more calm and relaxed. If I don't smoke I get too antsy and that would be the time that I would do something stupid like forget to finish my knot.

I've heard that pot can help you enter a flow state. Any thoughts on this?

J Walpole wrote: He had no issues with me belaying him because he knew that I did it regularly and it didn't affect me.

climbing codger wrote:While waiting to get on a climb in BoCan recently, my partner and I watched as the only 2 other climbers there that day smoked pot between climbs. Obviously not a good idea